A Brave
New World?
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Real Time Social Media Marketing And You,
The Consumer, Are The Medium...


 There are some really interesting ideas and tantalising opportunities on offer within social media that have really come forward in the past couple of months...
Things are starting to pick up pace and the way in which people consume media will be changing even more over the coming year.

With that in mind, a particular article which has caught our eye is Republic signing up with Facebook Deals to offer discounts to customers who use Facebook Check-in to log their location while shopping in the fashion retailers stores.

While the profit margin may be slashed on Republic’s side of things there are benefits to this promotion which, let’s face it, is little more than a digital coupon campaign with a location-based twist.

Lets break it down:

  • While there is no cost for printing promotional flyers/coupons as even the vouchers are sent to phones, Facebook Deal requires a minimum spend of £50,000 so this is not “free” social media advertising by any means.
  • This type of promotion has a more premium, contemporary feel by having digital coupons sent to smart phones as its incentive. The delivery of the discount fits the fashion store’s identity as a trendy upmarket apparel store.
  • The promotion should drive people to stores with a massive offer of 20% discount and the fact that the discount only lasts within a given time frame may encourage buyer action with a sense of urgency. The fact that even with 20% off people are buying products that are still, you would assume, making a decent profit margin for Republic is also pretty sweet, has to be said.
  • The use of Facebook Check-in means that the location of the consumer will be shared with all of their friends offering great exposure to Republic and the benefit of the exposure coming from a friend of theirs, instead of a brand that ultimately wants to sell something to them. Although, it’s not so great for the consumer if they are pulling a sickie and should really be at home being ill.


According to Brand Republic Debenhams, Benetton and Argos are also looking to get involved too. It’s definitely an exciting prospect for companies who can afford the 50K investment , although it seems unclear what the cost of setting up the backend system within the company to deal with this would be.

There is also some criticism being directed towards Facebook for the initiative. Lets face it, smaller businesses who could really benefit and develop from this service will not be able to afford the initial spend, let alone the knock on costs(!), but that’s a different discussion altogether. What we want to acknowledge here is that this service presents fantastic opportunity/territory for clients, consumers and agencies to explore together.

Anyways, we’ll let you mull that one over: unfair and slightly sinister big brother, or an exciting brave new world for communications and the consumer?

Hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter and find it informative. We have worked particularly hard on it this month. If there is anything that you want to chat about, whether you like it or lump it, get in touch with any of us here at Box Clever Headquarters – we always like a good natter...


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